Madam, - It seems to me that Irish football has a lot to thank Roy Keane for. Were it not for his speaking out in Saipan and the national drama that ensued, there would not have been the subsequent pressure for change within the FAI.
The rights and wrongs of how he chose to make his feelings known have been debated endlessly. But it remains a fact that it was the actions of one footballer which brought decades of shambolic governance within Irish football to an end.
At last there seems to be an administrative and management set-up which gives us a real chance of competing on the world stage.
As Irish football reaps the benefit of the changes which the past two years have brought, we should remember who it was that first stood up and demanded change. - Yours, etc.,
CONN HOLOHAN, Millview Lawns, Malahide, Co Dublin.
A chara, - Roy Keane is literally putting his body on the line to represent his country again. Recently, the Irish squad has had plenty of players who have walked out while they were still in their prime, yet barely a sound has been made about them. We have no reason to expect an apology from one of our greatest sportspeople who was treated badly and told to leave by his employers.
Roy Keane's decision to make himself available to play for his country again for neither fame nor fortune at this late stage in his career is a massive display of patriotism and this gesture should be admired by all in the sporting world. Fair play to him and good luck. - Is mise,
NIALL Ó DOMHNAILL, Omi Niigata, Japan.
Madam, - I suggest that any future correspondence, news items or articles on the matter of Messrs Keane, McCarthy, Dunphy et al. be confined to an easily removed pull-out section of your newspaper.
Could I also, through your medium, suggest that RTÉ confine this sort of news to where it rightfully belongs - in its Six-One sports bulletin. - Yours, etc.,
JOHN GIBSON, Ailesbury Grove, Dublin 16.